Simon Bairu’s Big Marathon Debut This Weekend

Simon Bairu should have a big debut in New York this weekend. Photo: Photorun.net

Simon Bairu should have a big debut in New York this weekend. Photo: Photorun.net

The Canadian 10,000m-record holder is looking forward to competing this Sunday at the ING New York City Marathon.

Throughout his impressive career, Simon Bairu has enjoyed success in shorter races. He owns seven Canadian men’s cross-country titles and was the NCAA cross-country champion in 2004 and 2005.

Bairu is now trying his hand out in the marathon.

“This has kind of been two or three years in the making,” Bairu said. “Everything kind of fell together this year and we said, ‘OK, you know what? I’m confident that I can handle the work.”

Bairu is coached by Nike’s Jerry Schumacher. His goal this weekend is 2:10–realistic considering his recent 1:02 clocking at the ING Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon in September.

“I know it’s not going to be easy. I’m just going to go up there and compete and if the time comes, it comes. If it doesn’t, then I’ll just focus on a different marathon, a faster one. I’m not going into this worried about times or anything. You worry about competing and then the times take care of themselves,” Bairu said.

Duncan Larkin

Duncan Larkin is a freelance journalist and author who’s been covering the sport of running for over a decade. He’s run 2:32 in the marathon and won the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race in 2007. He wrote the book RUN SIMPLE, and coaches runners of all abilities.
You can learn more about him here: http://roadsmillslaps.tumblr.com/about